Sen. Andy Harris enjoyed hugs and congratulations from Republicans and Democrats alike Wednesday morning at the State House, as he celebrated his trouncing of nine-term incumbent Wayne Gilchrest in the 1st Congressional District.
Harris earned a convincing 43 percent of the vote over Gilchrest in an expensive and fiercely fought contest. Sen. E.J. Pipkin of the Upper Shore came in third at 20 percent.
Gilchrest carried all the counties on the Eastern Shore, but some by only a few dozen votes, while Harris swept the parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Harford counties in the district by wide margins. The last two are counties he currently represents.
As expected, Queen Anne?s County State?s Attorney Frank Kratovil won the Democratic primary, but by a lesser margin (40 percent) and with fewer votes than the conservative state senator he will face in the fall.
Harris said the victory was “a pretty resounding endorsement of the message” of fiscal conservatism he promoted. “The Republican primary voters knew this was a clear choice,” he added.
Pipkin, who traded barbed attack ads with Harris, congratulated him and pledged to help him in the general election. “It?s time for the party to come together,” he said. “We need to keep the seat in Republican hands.”
Gilchrest has not commented on his defeat.
“Democrats do not hold a party advantage in the district,” Harris said, adding that former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who endorsed him, received two-thirds of the votes in 2006 against Martin O?Malley.
“I don?t think that this is that conservative of a district,” Kratovil said. He explained his results by saying, “We were cautious in terms of spending.
“No one will really know what part the weather played in this,” Kratovil added. Asked what difference it would make that he lives on the Eastern Shore and Harris does not, he said, “I think people on both sides of the district feel left out of the loop.”
